Increasing in ambulance calls with new non-emergency number

Bosses at the trust which runs the hospital in Pield Heath Road, and Mount Vernon Hospital, in Rickmansworth Road, Northwood, are investigating the seven per cent rise since the service was introduced in late February.

HILLINGDON Hospital has experienced a rise in ambulance arrivals since the start of a trial of the new non-emergency 111 number.

Bosses at the trust which runs the hospital in Pield Heath Road, and Mount Vernon Hospital, in Rickmansworth Road, Northwood, are investigating the seven per cent rise since the service was introduced in late February.

Hillingdon is the only hospital with an A&E department, and the vast majority of ambulance deliveries will be there.

A recent report to trust board members said it is thought the telephone number, intended for people who do not need to call 999, may actually have led to more people being told they need an ambulance.

It said: “Evidence is now emerging from other pilot sites that the 111 service may be instrumental in increasing the number of ambulance transfers, due to potentially increased referral rates.”

The new number was not specifically designed to cut down on ambulance callouts but to cut down on unnecessary calls to 999.

An ambulance can still be dispatched without the need for the call to be transferred.